And I'll Still Love You When The Rain Stops
by Mbak Sanca
Summary: Because the rains stopping would mean the end of the world. Nine Marius-related mistakes that Eponine made (because her life was never long enough to make another). Also posted on AO3. One sided Meponine, one sided Enjonine.


**Just some depressing fluff...**

**Disclaimer: Victor Hugo, Boubil and Schonberg (is that how you spell it?) own Les Miserables. Not me. Never me. On my own...**

"You nearly missed Javert. Because you were watching that bourgeois boy," Thénardier snarled. Eponine spat in his face. He snarled and slapped her. Eponine fell with a shriek of fury. "I love him!" she shouted. "He's a good-for-nothing bourgeois boy, that's what he is! Have I raised you so bad that you don't know a bad man when you see one, Eponine?" her father shouted at her.

"I still love him!" Eponine shouted. "He clearly doesn't love you back, girl! Otherwise, would you still be the ugly gamine girl you are?" Eponine snarled in fury. "Monsieur Marius will see my love for him one day and return it, Father!"

That was her first mistake—thinking Marius would ever love her.

andi'llstillloveyouwhentherainstops

She never noticed him.

Enjolras was a man of marble. His emotions never seeped through, kept under lock and key. And yet he still hoped that Eponine would notice him someday, though her eyes and heart for Marius and Marius alone. Enjolras watched as Eponine flitted around Marius like a little, pretty lark.

No. Not a lark. Larks were weak. Eponine was a snake. She was seductive and dangerous. Enjolras absolutely loved Eponine, there was no question about that. He loved the way she slipped around like a snake. She was the princess of the slums, the very embodiment of what he fought for. So, his stone heart cracked just a bit more when Eponine spoke about Marius.

"Monsieur Enjolras, have you seen Marius?" she asked. Her voice was harsh and ragged, but it was music to Enjolras's ears. Enjolras steeled himself. "No. No, I haven't." Eponine seemed to wilt slightly. "Oh. Well, thank you, monsieur." Enjolras loved Eponine, but he would never tell her that. Loving someone could compromise the rebellion. And Eponine loved Marius dearly. So he let Marius be the only man Eponine ever loved, not knowing that the world would await her with Enjolras. How stupid love is.

That was Eponine's second mistake—seeing only Marius.

andi'llstillloveyouwhentherainstops

"You've got to stop following Pontmercy like a puppy, 'Ponine."

Eponine turned around to face Azelma. "So what? I love him." Azelma gritted her teeth. She wondered if Eponine would react differently if she knew that for every less coin Eponine brought home, it was one more beating for Azelma. "I've got to pay the price for every bit of time you're with him!" Azelma said in disbelief. "What's a little price for love?" the older of the two sisters asked.

"Eponine, you're my sister!" Eponine only sighed dreamily.

That was Eponine's third mistake—loving Marius more than anything else.

andi'llstillloveyouwhentherainstops

Eponine watched Cosette and Marius in Cosette's garden. A bit of sadness flitted in her heart. Oh, how she loved Marius! He was her world, but to him, she was no more than a minor character in his show of life.

The gamine tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Her fingers came away dirtier than how they usually were. A wry smile twisted at Eponine's lips. How strange. Eponine was the gamine now, and Cosette the bourgeois. Her sharp ears suddenly picked up the sound of footsteps, and she whirled around from her silent vigil to face her father. Uh-oh.

"Who is this hussy?" Thénardier slurred (Eponine was very sure that he was drunk. How stupid. Robbing a house drunk). "It's your brat, Eponine!" one of his henchmen snorted. "Don't you know your own kid? Why she hanging about you?" Thénardier looked slightly confused. Was he seriously so drunk that he couldn't remember if he had enlisted his daughter's help for this robbery? "Eponine, get unknown, you're not needed in here, we're enough without you!"

Ha. So he finally remembered that Eponine wasn't part of this robbery after all. "I know this house I tell you, there's nothing here for you!" Eponine whispered furiously. Defend Marius, defend Marius, defend Marius… "Just the old man and the girl! They live ordinary lives!"

"Don't interfere! You've got some gall, young miss, you've got a lot to say!" Thénardier took what was probably supposed to be a threatening step at Eponine, but ended up wobbling dangerously. _Miserable drunk, _Eponine thought scornfully. "She's going soft!" Brujon snorted.

"I'm gonna scream! I'm gonna warn them here!" Eponine threatened. At least if her father killed her, Marius could get away. And hopefully stay alive. "One little scream and you'll regret it for a year!" At this, Montparnasse leered unpleasantly. For some reason, Eponine felt that the punishment would involve Montparnasse and the rest of the Patron-Minette.

But she screamed anyway, and, oh, she did regret it.

That was Eponine's fourth mistake—defending Marius.

andi'llstillloveyouwhentherainstops

When Eponine found Cosette's letter, her world shattered.

Marius had, indeed, loved someone. And it wasn't Eponine. No, it had never been Eponine, and it never would be. It was a pretty bourgeois girl. But there was still hope. Perhaps Eponine could prove how much she loved Marius, and Marius would love her back.

So she hid the letter. She didn't know how much pain it would cost Marius.

That was Eponine's fifth mistake—thinking Marius would never love anyone but her.

andi'llstillloveyouwhentherainstops

Eponine was a madwoman, Marius decided. After all, what kind of person in their right mind would willingly go to the barricades for no good reason? (A person in love would. After all, Marius had gone to the barricades because a world without Cosette wasn't a world at all). "You'll get killed," Marius had warned.

His best friend (a madwoman, Marius reminded himself) just shrugged. "So? At least it'll be with you, monsieur."

That was Eponine's sixth mistake—following Marius.

andi'llstillloveyouwhentherainstops

"Eponine!" Eponine stirred slightly. "Monsieur Marius," she murmured, smiling. "Don't you fret, Monsieur Marius. I don't feel any pain. A little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now," she assured him. "You're here—that's all I need to know. And you will keep me safe, and you will keep me close. And rain will make the flowers grow." It was ironic, that she was held and loved only near her death. At least it was Marius. "You will live, 'Ponine, if I could close your wounds with words of love."

At this, Eponine brightened slightly. "Love?" she whispered. "Then, you ought to know, monsieur."

"Know what?" Marius seemed to be dreading the answer slightly. Eponine didn't notice. "I think I've always been a little bit in love with you, monsieur." With those words, Eponine faded. Her life had been spent loving Marius, though he didn't love her back.

That was her seventh mistake—loving Marius.

andi'llstillloveyouwhentherainstops

If Eponine had never fallen in love with Marius, she wouldn't have been dragged into this whole revolution mess.

Eponine didn't believe that this world would ever change for the better. A gamine's life was harsh, and it always would be. Choosing the revolutionary side was a huge mistake that cost her life.

That was Eponine's eighth mistake—falling in love with Marius.

andi'llstillloveyouwhentherainstops

It was painful for Eponine to watch Marius and Cosette. She still loved Marius (she always would). She should have told Marius sooner that she loved him. Marius thought that now that she was dead, she didn't love him anymore.

Wrong.

Eponine watched Marius comfort Cosette as she accompanied Fantine lead Jean Valjean to heaven. "I've always loved you, Monsieur Marius. And I'll still love you—even when the rain stops." Because the rain stopping would be the end of the world, and Eponine would love Marius until the end of the world.

That was Eponine's ninth and final mistake—never telling Marius how much he meant to her. Maybe her world would have been better if Marius knew that she love him dearly—oh so dearly—before this whole Cosette mess appeared (of course, Eponine's life was a mess before Cosette came in).

**Read and review, Mizzies, read and review!**


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